Health and social services reform and freedom of choice

Health and social services reform and freedom of choice

The health and social services reform, currently in planning, will modernise the structure, services and financing of Finnish social and health services. The goal of the reform is to offer all citizens equal access to legally mandated social and health services.

Administrative responsibility for social and health services will be transferred to regions at the beginning of 2021. Each region will plan, manage and finance social and health services within its geographical area. Further, it must ensure that the services form an integrated whole where clients can find clear pathways to the care and services they need.

Part of the reform involves expanding the patients’ freedom of choice. It means the patients’ right to choose where to get their health and social services. Publicly funded social and health services will continue to be offered by a mix of public, private and third-sector providers.

Kela is building information management services enabling the patients’ freedom of choice

Well-functioning information systems are essential to the health and social services reform. Kela is building a set of national information management services underpinning the patients’ freedom of choice. This will be a national data resource consisting of the following:

a service to allow clients to choose their service provider

a provider management service to enable service providers to register and service organisers to document the agreements made with service providers

a service for monitoring the provision of services, which the service providers will use to submit reports to the regional authorities on the services delivered to clients

systems for calculating fixed reimbursements and transmitting payments made under the direct-choice arrangement from the regional authorities to the service providers

an information resource on the social responsibility of service providers containing details on the operations and finances of private service providers